Top searches

MEDIA RELEASE: COMMUNITY CONSULTATION AND RIDERSHIP DATA INFORMS NEW TRANSIT ROUTES AND SCHEDULES

MEDIA RELEASE: COMMUNITY CONSULTATION AND RIDERSHIP DATA INFORMS NEW TRANSIT ROUTES AND SCHEDULES

September 07, 2017

For Immediate Release

Thursday, September 7, 2017 - Port Hope, ON

The Municipality of Port Hope’s transit system is set to undergo much anticipated upgrades next month when the implementation of new bus routes and schedule changes take effect on Monday, October 2; an undertaking that is aimed at improving service and efficiency for riders.

“Transit concerns has been a hot topic for some time and this council has been committed to building a more effective service for our community,” explained Councillor Terry Hickey, Chair of the Works and Engineering committee. “The recommended changes to the routes and schedule are a positive step forward and I look forward to hearing the feedback from our transit riders.”

In an effort to understand the Municipality’s ridership and the needs of the community, considerable public consultation of the transit system was conducted in the spring, which included an open house as well as a formal community consultation process. The feedback and suggestions made by the community, combined with ridership data and transit operator feedback, has been instrumental in realigning the bus routes and improving the service delivery.

The new transit schedule includes a 30-minute transit service within the urban area as well as a new express shuttle between Port Hope and Cobourg.

“Our new routes enable one bus to circulate through town more efficiently,” noted Warren Nicholishen, Transportation Operations Manager for the Municipality of Port Hope. “The bus will use Town Hall as its hub, and each route will take only a half-hour to run.”

During council deliberations at the August Committee of the Whole meeting, council decided that new routes and schedule changes should be implemented on a trial-basis, and will not include fare increases at this time. Following a three-month test of the new system, Municipal staff will submit a status report to Council and re-visit the fare increase proposal.

The new bus route and schedule is available for download at porthope.ca/transit and at Municipal buildings throughout the Municipality.